Maria Helena VIEIRA DA SILVA, painter of Portuguese origin, was born in Lisbon into a family which encouraged her interest in painting, literature and music from an early age. In 1928 she moved to Paris where she studied sculpture, but subsequently turned her attention to painting from 1929. In 1930, she married the Hungarian painter, Arpad Szenes. As a painter, she concentrated primarily on urban themes although, from early on her work reveals a concern with space and depth.

Maria Helena Vieira da Silva was born in Lisbon in 1908, and passed away in Paris in 199 2. She was a single child, who revealed a keen interest for music and reading at an early age, and later discovered her true passion: painting and drawing. From a very early stage, she received lessons, and due to her motivation for sculpture, she studied Anatomy at the Faculdade de Medicina in Lisbon (Lisbon Medical School)...